Risking the Crown

by Violet Paige

  “It takes two people, and this girl is not interested in that guy. Ok?” She tilted my chin forward.

  “I saw how he looked at you.” My voice was firm. Kaitlyn was gorgeous and sexy. Any man would want her. The problem was seeing it in action. That asshole had made it clear that he wanted everything that belonged to me.

  “It doesn’t mean anything. I am with you.”

  I handed her the envelope. “You open it.”

  She slid her finger between the flap and the seal. Kaitlyn pulled out a folded piece of paper along with a few photographs. She opened the paper.

  “It’s a birth certificate.” She read the names in the blocks. “It says his father was Mitchell Thomas and his mother was Lorraine Hanish.” There was a seal from the state of Texas at the bottom. She gave it to me to read.

  “What else?” I asked.

  We both knew the certificate could have been altered or the paternal name falsely identified. She held a stack of pictures. There was a little boy blowing out candles on his third birthday cake. One of the same boy opening Christmas presents. As he got older, the pictures became clearer. His high school graduation. College graduation. There was no mistaking Aiden was the boy aging over the decades. She placed them in my palm.

  “This is Pops.” I pointed to the man in the picture. “Son of a bitch,” I muttered under my breath. I flipped through the pictures. What the fuck was I seeing?

  “How could Pops keep this from me?” I shook my head. “And not just me, my dad, my grandmother. I thought I knew him. He had another life? Another family? I don’t understand how he could have done this. What the fuck?”

  Kaitlyn took my face between her palms.

  “I will help you get through this. We will figure it out together. Just don’t shut me out, please. We swore we’d tell each other everything.”

  “We did.”

  I dropped the package, tangling my hands in her hair. My lips crashed into hers. My tongue twirled inside her mouth. Kaitlyn moaned at each flick of my tongue. Her hands roamed my chest.

  My eyes darted to the window. I pulled back. “Baby, we can’t do this now. It’s the middle of the day, and that asshole could come back.”

  “Take me home,” she urged.

  “I’ve got to get back to the roof. We can pick this up later.” I stood, stretching my legs and forcing my cock to calm the fuck down.

  “No.” She stood in front of me. “Take me home. Take me to bed. Just take me.”

  She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around mine neck, pulling my lips toward hers. “I need you now. Not after work, not tonight, but right now. I can’t wait until we put Grayson to bed. Please,” she begged.

  I laced my fingers through hers and lead Kaitlyn out of the office.

  We didn’t say a single word as we climbed the stairs to our blue beach cottage, and we didn’t talk as we undressed each other in the coolness of our white bedroom.

  The house was quiet except for the sounds coming from the beach.

  I’d wanted her in the middle of the day. I wanted her in the morning. In the shower. I wanted her all the time. But after a week of throwing herself into work and trying to figure out Grayson’s schedule together it was fucking hard to be spontaneous.

  Her body drove me crazy. Did she ever doubt it? And now there was another man who wanted her. It wasn’t fucking happening.

  Kaitlyn was mine. This girl had been in my life for years. Now that I finally had her, I wasn’t going to let her go to some dick who thought he was entitled because life dealt him a shitty hand.

  She made a trail of clothes to the bedroom. I followed her, throwing my shirt as I walked and shirked my jeans.

  I pulled her to my body. She shivered against me and the peaks of her tits were hard on my chest.

  “You know this is what I need, don’t you?” I searched her eyes.

  “Yes.” She nodded, climbing on the bed. “We both need it.” She rolled on her back and spread her legs. God, she was the perfect tempting angel. She could give me everything I wanted.

  My cock ached to be inside her. To fuse with her sweet skin and plunge inside her velvet walls.

  I reached in the drawer and pulled out the little toy I had bought two weeks ago. I coated it with lube. She was so fucking sexy with this in her ass.

  She licked her lips and whimpered.

  I crawled toward her, eyeing her pussy. It glistened in the sunlight. But this toy was for her perfect little asshole. I knew I was a lucky man. She had given it to me and I wanted every time to feel fucking incredible for her. I wanted her to love having that precious backdoor filled with my cock. To want me inside her. To love playing with toys. And she had wanted all of it and more.

  I knew this woman was meant for me.

  I drew a long kiss against her lips. She purred as I flicked my tongue over hers.

  “You want this, don’t you?” I held up the plug, dangling it between us.

  “Yes,” she moaned, lifting her hips.

  “So dirty, Kaitlyn.” I smacked her and she yelped.

  Her legs widened. I grinned. “You have to spread them wider than that baby.”

  “Shit, Cole,” she groaned rolling on her stomach. She sat back on her knees, stretching her cheeks until her ass was exposed. That tight little asshole of hers was enough to bring me to my knees.

  I pushed the plug to the forbidden entrance and shoved it inside as her toes curled and she jerked forward on her hands and knees.

  “Yes!” she screamed.

  “Oh fuck, baby,” I groaned, watching her body writhe with carnal satisfaction. I fisted my cock, pumping it a few times. I needed this a few more times before I fucked her. Watching her like this, made everything else disappear.

  “Again, please,” she begged, glancing over her shoulder. She crouched back, extending her hands long. I slowly slid the plug along her skin and then shoved it inside her.

  She moaned, sliding forward, clamping down on the plug and soaring forward. Her tits grazed the sheets. I reached around her hip and flicked her clit.

  “Oh God,” she whimpered. “I love it so much.”

  “I know.” I nipped her ass playfully with my teeth, needing it one more time.

  She sat back and I fucked her ass with the plug one last time before she convulsed around it.

  “Cole,” she cried. I climbed on the bed behind her, pushing my cock inside her swollen pussy. The plug stretched and filled her, putting pressure against her walls as I soared inside her.

  I yanked the back of her hair, riding her hard and long. I grunted and panted, before flipping her on her back. I sent her legs to my shoulders as I sank deep inside her. The plug had an entirely new effect at this angle. It made her even tighter. Fuck. I didn’t know sex with Kaitlyn could keep getting hotter, but that’s exactly what happened.

  “Ohh,” she mewed. “Keep. Doing. That.”

  We needed this more than either of us realized. The pressure. The work. And now a fucking long-lost uncle had shown up. We needed this to remember, nothing and no one came between us. Nothing.

  Her eyes locked on mine and I knew the way the head of my cock slid in and out that I had seconds before I exploded.

  “Come with me,” I commanded.

  She was already there. Her pussy clamped on my cock and we fell apart. Shattered. Broke in each other’s arms.

  9

  Kaitlyn

  I watched as Cole zipped his jeans and laced his boots. “Thank you.” He leaned down to kiss me on the neck.

  “Thank you?” I let the sheet fall from my chest. I wasn’t ready for him to go. I wanted to climb in his lap and spend the rest of the afternoon showing him how much I loved him, in case he still had any doubts.

  “Yeah, I needed that.” He smiled. “And I don’t mean just the sex part. I needed you too.”

  “Can’t you stay?” I nipped at his ear, distracting him with whatever tactics would keep him from putting his shirt back on.

  “Dar
lin’, I have to get on that roof and finish the shingles. But this was a much better ending to my morning than how it started.” He reached for the second boot. “I was an ass earlier.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with him.

  “How about we go out tonight? I don’t think I’ve taken you anywhere since you moved here.” He flashed a white smile.

  We had become regular homebodies in a short amount of time. I wasn’t complaining. I liked sunsets on the deck and dinner on the floor watching TV. Grayson had a regular bath and bedtime schedule. He came first. I knew that. This was our life.

  “Sounds good. Peabody’s?” I was excited to wear a dress. Cole hadn’t seen nearly enough of my cute clothes.

  “Nah, some place else. I’ll think of something and text you later.”

  “Ok.” I wrapped my arms around him a little tighter. I couldn’t let him go. “Do you think Lisa is going to get tired of babysitting?” I asked.

  “Actually, she gave me the number for her niece. She’s a senior in high school and can come over here instead of us having to drive him back and forth.”

  “That’s even better.” I smiled. I ran my hands along his firm ass.

  “Baby, I have to get to work. After the roof, I have rooms at the Dunes to get ready.” He peeled me away limb by limb.

  “What if I just stay here like this all day? Naked and waiting for you.” I threw the sheet on the floor.

  His laughter filled the room. “You might get cold.”

  I pouted. There was nothing cold in my body.

  “See you tonight.” He rushed out of the room before I could throw myself on him again.

  I rolled on my back and watched the fan blades spin. This is the part of life when responsibility was supposed to kick in. I got that. Cole was trying to make sure we could afford our rent. He had to keep the Dunes from falling to pieces, and all I wanted to do was spend the day in bed. I had to learn to savor the moments we did have. Like our bodies moving together in perfect unison. I sighed. He was incredible. I shook out my clothes from the pile we had made on the side of the bed.

  I sat down quickly. I was dizzy. I hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep in the past few weeks. I reached for the glass of water next to the bed.

  I had work to do at the office. There was a lot hinging on the snowbird campaign. Tonight, we could have some more alone time.

  I checked my phone every ten minutes for a text from Cole. He said he would let me know about our dinner plans. It was almost five, and I still hadn’t heard from him since he ran out of the bedroom.

  I worried he had started thinking about the envelope Aiden had dropped off. No amount of sex could cure that problem. I folded my laptop and placed it in the storage closet. I didn’t like leaving it out on the desk. I switched the AC off and locked the door behind me.

  Cole’s truck wasn’t at the house. I jogged up the stairs, and let myself in. I decided to go ahead and take a shower. It always took me three times as long to get ready. I might as well get started before Grayson and the babysitter arrived.

  I checked my phone again after the shower, after my makeup routine, and after I finished drying my hair. It was six o’clock now, and the alarm bells were starting to ring in my head.

  Normally, I wasn’t a worrier, but I hadn’t been able to shake this odd feeling all day. I tapped his number and waited for him to answer. The call went straight to voicemail. I was ready to hit redial repeatedly, but my phone started ringing.

  It was Sasha.

  “Sasha?”

  “Hey, listen. Don’t panic, but Cole’s hurt.”

  “What?” I sat at the kitchen table. My hands started to shake.

  “He’s at the Regency Medical Center. There was an accident when he was on the roof. Do you need me to come get you, or do you know where it is?”

  I grabbed my purse. “I-I know where it is.” My voice cracked. “How bad is it, Sasha?”

  “He’s going to be ok. I think it’s just his leg. One of my mom’s friends is a nurse there, and she called her. When they first brought him in, he was knocked out.”

  “Oh my God.” I dared the tears to form in my eyes. I had to see to be able to drive. Crying was not an option.

  “Are you sure you can drive? I can come pick you up.”

  “No, no.” I shook my head.

  “What can I do to help?” she asked.

  “Oh God. Grayson is coming home from school with a new babysitter.” My stomach flipped and the dizziness from the afternoon struck again.

  “When are they supposed to be there?”

  I looked at the clock. “Maybe fifteen minutes?”

  “Ok. I’m headed to your house. I’ll meet them, tell her what happened, and I can stay with the little guy tonight.”

  “Oh my God, Sasha. Are you sure?”

  “Of course. Go be with Cole. Don’t worry about Grayson. I can make some mean chicken nuggets.”

  I ran down the stairs, pressing the phone to my ear. I cranked the ignition on my car. “I’m headed there right now. Thank you for all of this.”

  “I’ll check on you two later. Call me if you need anything.”

  “I will.” I pulled onto the highway and pressed the accelerator fiercely. Cole was hurt and I had to get there.

  10

  Kaitlyn

  “Miss, are you next of kin?” The nurse behind the station kept repeating herself, but I wasn’t looking at her. I searched the curtains behind her for some sign of Cole. “Miss?”

  I nodded. I would lie and promise my firstborn, too, at this point. “Yes. Cole Thomas. I just need to see him. He’s alone.”

  She typed something into the computer and double-checked her findings on a clipboard. “He’s in curtain five.” She pointed around the corner.

  I didn’t wait in case she changed her mind. I took off in the direction of the next set of curtains.

  There was a crack in curtain five, and I peered through the slit before slipping inside. Cole was asleep. His foot was wrapped and his leg was suspended in the air.

  I wiped a tear that had snuck its way onto my cheek. The cubicle was small, but there was one chair. I pulled it as close to the side of the bed as I could and sat.

  Two hours later, Cole’s eyes fluttered open. I smiled and clutched his hand.

  “Cole?”

  They closed with zero recognition. I sighed and returned to my strained posture. There was an IV dripping something into his arm. Whatever it was, it must have been strong enough to keep him asleep for a while.

  My eyes began to burn, but I didn’t dare venture out for coffee. I was afraid one of the nurses would try to check my ID.

  One of them pulled the curtain to the side. Her name tag said Darlene.

  “How’s he doin’, honey?” She retracted a clipboard from the plastic bin over Cole’s head.

  “Should he be asleep this long? He hasn’t been awake since I got here.” I looked at the clock. That was now four hours.

  “It’s the morphine.” She chuckled. “He’s probably happy to be sleeping through this.” She pointed to the contraption rigged around his leg. “We just got the green light to move him to a room.”

  “He has to stay the night?” I didn’t know what was going to happen, but an overnight hospital stay made it feel like everything was worse.

  “He needs a day with this leg, and then I think he’ll get discharged tomorrow. Don’t take my word on that.” She returned the clipboard. “Just a guess.”

  “Can I stay with him?” I didn’t want him to wake up alone, if he did wake up tonight.

  “There’s a recliner in his regular room that folds out to a small bed. It’s not comfortable, sugar, but you can stay if you want to.”

  I watched as she started unhooking cords and wrapping the IV tubes around the cart.

  “Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say. She was the nicest person I had encountered all night.

  A team of two other nurses appeared. They loosened the breaks
on the wheels, folded the sides of the bed, and took off with Cole. I grabbed my purse and followed them.

  The hospital was a maze. I would need all the exit signs to find my way back out.

  A few minutes later, Cole was stationery again, and his bed on lockdown and plugged into a bunch of wall sockets.

  Darlene opened the cupboard at the end of the bed and handed me a set of blankets and a pillow. “Here you go. These are for you. Don’t feel bad if you feel like you need to go home. You wouldn’t be the first to be defeated by the chair.” She smiled warmly before closing the door behind her.

  It wasn’t much, but it would make the recliner bearable. I kicked off my sandals, extended the chair, and nestled in for the night. I wasn’t going to leave Cole’s side.

  If I thought sleeping on the hard living room floor was rough, it was nothing compared to wrestling sleeping positions in a hospital recliner. I opened my eyes, remembering where I had spent the night.

  “Good morning,” Cole whispered.

  “You’re awake.” I hopped out of the chair faster than I should have. My shoulder and leg had both fallen asleep. The dizziness hit me. I stumbled, but grabbed the end of the bed to gain some balance.

  “I’ve been watching you sleep. What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “I couldn’t leave you here all night by yourself. Are you ok? What happened?” I still had no idea what kind of accident he had.

  “Where’s Grayson?” His eyes darted back and forth.

  “He’s ok. Sasha canceled the sitter and stayed with him all night. She knows where to take him to school.” I smiled.

  He motioned for the water cup on the rolling cart. I picked it up and handed it to him.

  A few seconds later, he cleared his throat. “I was coming down off the roof, and my foot slipped. I got hung up in the ladder. It twisted my knee before I finally landed on the ground. That’s the last thing I remember.”